Podcast Episode 4

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To celebrate the official beginning of summer we have changed things up a bit this week and are covering one of our most beloved sub-genre's of horror, the summer camp slasher film. We discuss 1981's low budget Madman, 1982's fan favorite The Burning and 1983's uncomfortable shocker Sleepaway Camp. In addition we list our most anticipated films for the summer of 2013. Enjoy!

V/H/S 2 - Review

Horror anthologies have always been a favorite of mine ever since I watched Creepshow and more recently Trick R Treat. I also love found footage films, D]despite many people’s tendency to shit on them, and think there's a lot more new and creative things that can be done with this genre. In no film is this more evident than in V/H/S 2.

V/H/S 2 is comprised of five segments, unlike six in the original, one of those being the wrap-around story. This, however, is a welcome change as it allows the directors plenty of time to flesh out their stories, one of which runs 40 minutes and is definitely worth the extra time. If there’s one part of the first V/H/S that I thought was most lacking it was the wrap-around story. It followed a group of troublemakers as they recorded themselves causing mayhem and ended at a creepy house where they have to find a V/H/S tape. Of course they slowly begin to disappear as the viewer is treated to each new story. It wasn't terrible but you didn't care about the characters at all because they were assholes and it felt like it was thrown in simply to provide a reason for all of these films to exist together. This time around, we follow a sleazy private detective and his partner on their search for a missing student when they come across.... you guessed it, a pile of VHS tapes that they can’t help but watch. I found this wrap-around story to be much creepier than the original film as the tapes actually affect them in strange ways and we can see someone else in the background watching them. In the original V/H/S we’re not given many hints to the origin of the tapes but in V/H/S 2 we are given a few more clues, though they still remain vague. The ending was a big step up from the first as well and turned out to be a bit of a surprise.

Podcast Episode 3

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The ABC's of Death - Review

The concept behind ABC's of Death is an inspired one. Take 26 genre directors, give them each a letter and a budget of $5000, and have them direct a short based on their given letter. The directors are given 100% freedom to write and direct as they see fit with no intervention from the production studio. It's like a visual take on the saying "when the cat is away the mice will play". The only problem is some of the mice just aren't as good at playing the game as others and can make the better players look bad. That's kind of what happens with ABC's of Death. There are a few moments of true entertainment and enjoyment but they are often overshadowed by their less entertaining and enjoyable counterparts. That's not to say these aren't all talented directors because they are, it just didn't work out for them in this format. The other issue is there is no real editing here. The letters are presented in order so we get no real sense of flow beside the fact that the letters follow each other. What follows is a rundown of each letter. The only way I could think to rate a movie like this is to rate each segment and average them together for an overall rating.

Podcast Episode 2

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In this episode of Midnight Triple Feature we discuss the 1988 horror film The Rejuvenator, the 1995 killer scarecrow opus Night of the Scarecrow and Herschell Gordon Lewis' follow-up to his 1963 cult classic 2002's Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat. In addition we discuss Arnold Schwarzenegger's relation to the Toxic Avenger reboot, John Carpenter's interest in a live action Dead Space adaptation, upcoming releases and more!

Ghostbusters - Blu-ray Review

Ghostbusters is a classic comedy that holds up every time you revisit it.

As a kid I loved the film and the characters (as did most), right down to having posters on the wall, T-Shirt's, coloring books, action figures and the Ecto-1 Car. Ghostbusters managed to grab the attention of both children and adults

The story follows 3 college professors that lose their jobs and decide to open a ghost removal business. They get their first call as soon as the doors open. Everything gets a little crazy though when the gates of hell open.

Watching this on blu-ray really brings me back, right from the menu with the Ghostbusters theme (the song that every one sings even if you've never seen the movie). Seeing the Proton packs, Ecto-1, the multiple sexual innuendos and penis jokes always make this worth rewatching.

This Blu-Ray is one of the best I have seen thus far. It really clears up the the constant smoking of cigarettes (it was the 80's). Actually, there is a lot of Budweiser beer drank during this movie too. The ghost scene's probably stand out the most in this version. Color and detail that that you might have missed before you will see now.

So if you are a fan of the the movie or have never seen it, go grab it on blu-ray and watch it.

I give the movie a 4/5 and Blu-ray Transfer 4.5/5

Manborg - Review

It's Never too Late...to be a Hero

I grew up with a generation of fans who found their love of genre films through VHS. On the weekends my parents would bring me to the local video store and I would spend a fair amount of time roaming the aisles going over the various covers attempting to decide which titles I should bring home. The box art was all I had to go by. There was no internet to look up a film before I watched it and I was far too young to have access to any type of printed forums of critical review. Therefore, I had to choose wisely because if I made the wrong choice, I was stuck with it for the weekend. I had no option but to watch it and be happy with it. I couldn't stream 10 minutes and shut it off if it sucked. I would grin and bear it but usually I grew to appreciate and enjoy them. Manborg is a love letter to that era of film. To the movies that came to exist outside of Hollywood during the VHS boom of the 80's where anyone who had the resources could make a movie and distribute it.

Manborg takes place in a dystopian future where Draculon has risen from hell and conquered the world along with his evil minions. Earth has become a vast wasteland where humans are locked up and forced to do battle with demons for entertainment. The only hope for humanity lies in Manborg, a former soldier turned cyborg, and a ragtag group of human surivors consisting of a kung-fu master, an australian sharpshooter and his sister, an expert with blades. The four must team up and work together to defeat Draculon and take down his massive demon horde.

Texas Chainsaw "3D" - Review

Texas Chainsaw 3D is a complete mess from beginning to end. I had heard it was bad but stayed away from reviews knowing some day I would watch it. I am having a hard time finding even a single redeeming value about this "film". I feel like I have lost an hour and a half of my life that could have been better spent doing other things. Unfortunately, I can't take this experience back so I may as well review it. This is a long review as it's pretty hard to cover all of the flaws in this movie without getting into some length.
The film opens with a quick montage overview of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For a quick moment I thought to myself, maybe I should just watch that, but I pushed those thoughts out of my head and forged ahead. This film picks up directly where the 1974 film ended. This sets the film up to exist in a brand new universe where none of the sequels exist. The sheriff shows up at the Sawyer household which is now inhabited by several family members. Here is the very first problem with the film. I have seen the original chainsaw. There were four people in that house and there were no women and no babies. Did they all decide to rush over to the the sawyer house for a family breakfast after they had just slaughtered a group of innocents and let one escape? If they had been there